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Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books
No.683 Squadron was a photographic reconnaissance that operated from Malta during 1943 before moving to Italy, where it spent the rest of the war. No.683 Squadron was formed from B Flight, No.69 Squadron, in February 1943 and was based at Luqa (Malta). The new squadron was equipped with various marks of the Spitfire for its entire existence, although it did operate a small number of Mosquitoes in May-June 1943.
The new squadron was operational immediately after being formed. It operated over Sicily during the period before the Allied invasion, then flew 288 sorties during the actual invasion in July 1943. In August the squadron even began to operate from an advanced base on the island.
After the end of the fighting on Sicily the squadron focused on missions over the Balkans. In early October its attention returned to Italy and it spent nine days supporting the US 5th Army. It was then withdrawn to Tunisia for a month, returning to Italy in December 1943. The squadron worked alongside No.682 Squadron, and operated in detachments scattered around Italy. The squadron flew to a wide range of targets. Early in 1944 it focuses on the Po Valley and the rest of northern Italy. Yugoslavia was added in February, and it also flew into southern France, southern Germany, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Greece.
After the end of the war the squadron continued to operate over Yugoslavia. It was also used on mapping missions in Austria, Italy, Greece and Albanian. In August 1945 a detachment moved to Greece to support the Greek Government, then struggling against Communist rebels. The squadron was disbanded on 21 September 1945.
Aircraft
February-July 1943: Supermarine Spitfire IV
April-September 1943: Supermarine Spitfire XI
May-June 1943: de Havilland Mosquito IV and VI
September 1944-September 1945: Supermarine Spitfire XIX
Location
February-November 1943: Luqa
November-December 1943: El Aounia
December 1943-September 1945: San Severo
Squadron Codes: L, F, A
Duty
February 1943-November 1943: Photo-reconnaissance, Malta
November-December 1943: Photo-reconnaissance, Tunisia
December 1943-1945: Photo-reconnaissance, Italy
Part of
10 July 1943: A.H.Q. Malta; No.248 Wing; Mediterranean Air Command
Spitfire Photo-Recce Units of World War 2, Andrew Fletcher.
Covers both the technical development of the PR Spitfire and its cameras and the operation history of the type, from the early days of one experimental aircraft to its use in many squadrons around the world and to provide coverage of topics from the German Navy to Hitler’s secret weapons as well as making vital contributions to the D-Day landings (Read Full Review)
